The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) better protects the public health by aiding the food supply’s safety and security in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This act allows the FDA to write and regulate food safety rules that prevent food safety issues rather than detecting and reacting to issues after they occur. The FDA has updated three guidance documents for food producers covered by the FDA, including Juice, Seafood, and Low-Acid Canned Foods.
In 2017, the FDA published these guidances to help producers of food commodities covered by pre-FSMA regulations understand which parts of the FSMA regulations apply to them and how FSMA may affect their operations. The Hazard Analysis for Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a management system “which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product”[1].
Updates to each guidance include removing references to compliance dates as they have passed. New questions and answers about central kitchens and transportation caterers have been added to the guidances on Seafood HACCP and Juice HACCP. In addition, the juice and seafood HACCP regulations require importers of particular juice or seafood products to comply with requirements intended to help ensure that these imported products are processed per the corresponding HACCP regulation.
The juice HACCP regulation requires juice processors to identify food safety hazards reasonably likely to occur and develop plans to control those hazards. It may be better for a juice processor with ongoing troubles with microbial contamination of fruit it receives for processing to address its supply of fruit by complying with the specific requirements of the human preventive controls regulation for a supply-chain program.
The seafood HACCP regulation, just like the juice HACCP, requires seafood processors to identify food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and develop plans to control those hazards.
Guidances from the FDA are an important part in clarifying and providing industry specific insight on the regulations. For additional clarity on which HACCP regulations may apply to your product and how to implement them, EMMA International can assist. Contact EMMA International by phone 248-987-4497 or by email at info@emmaintnational.com
[1] https://www.fda.gov/food/guidance-regulation-food-and-dietary-supplements/hazard-analysis-critical-control-point-haccp
